One Hit Wonders

Did a search on the name. Pat Hogan knows a thing or two about waiting it out. In 1996, a swimmer he coached at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club in North Carolina, Jilen Siroky, made the U.S. Olympic team in the 200m breaststroke as a 14-year-old. Though she continued to swim through college, she never got within three seconds of the time she did in the final of 1996 Olympic Trials. This is not uncommon for girls whose bodies change dramatically in their early teens. Siroky’s started to change immediately after the Olympics. “She wasn’t the same swimmer,” recalls Hogan, USA Swimming’s managing director for club development. A change in stroke technique didn’t work, though emphasis on other strokes helped, allowing Siroky to experience once again the joy of improvement. However, she never achieved the level of accomplishment that she did in 1996. And yet, as Hogan says, “I was as proud of her the years after the Olympics as I was when she made the Olympics. As hard as she worked going into 1996, it was no different in ’97 and ’98. She struggled, but that’s one of the great things about our sport. When you are not improving, you begin to question, ‘Why am I doing this?’ You learn to struggle, and that’s good for kids. They learn a lot. You can’t enjoy the peaks unless you go through the valleys.”

Originally posted by craiglll@yahoo.com I read recently that most female swimmers, by the time they reach 18 yrs old have swam, on average 3 to 4 years more than the average male swimmer. Really? That's very strange to me. Maybe girls are more likely to stick with one sport and boys more likely to do several. That's about the only explanation I can think of.

Many swimmres are only one-hit-wonders because we don't hear about their college careers or the othe rthings they did. Also, we must remember tht for so many women, swimming wasn't an option after they got out of high school or they went to colleges thta weren't great swimming schools. I'm always surprised by how quickly people are to dismiss female atheletes.

Sorry I forgot to put this in . I read recently that most female swimmers, by the time they reach 18 yrs old have swam, on average 3 to 4 years more than the average male swimmer. I'm sorry I don't remember where that came from. The drop out rate in most sports after high school is very high. maybe we are just more intouch with our own sport and don't relize it happens in all sports. Look at Track & Field. we think that everyone is around for several years. Yet many schools have a terrible tiem keeping their athletes in college.

The percentage of girls to boys in age group swimming is at least 2 to 1. Boys do have more opportunity and swimming is not considered a "boys" sport like basketball, football. I heard somewhere that most college teams have a high percentage of Freshman and Sophmores, by the time they are in 3rd year and up they concentrate more on studies and getting on with their adult life.

Yes, if you look at age group time standards, the girls times are all faster then the boys times through age 12. Then 13 and up, the boys times get considerably faster. It coincides with the growth spurts. The 11-12 girls time standards are quite a bit faster than 10 and under, and then level out from there. 11-12 is the big growth spurt period for girls(don't believe me, visit your closest 7th grade). At the same time boys are finally getting the satisfaction of getting faster, they are also getting all kinds of school opportunities thrown at them for sports. And starting in Junior High, sports become fairly intense, 5 days a week, 2 hour practices, competitions 2-3 per week(except football), so they participate in that, because there is not Junior High swimming in the schools(at least not in this state). Girls have the same thing too, so there is a loss of girls at the same time, but because their growth spurt comes earlier, they are getting the pick up of speed to keep them interested. Then in High School, when they are likely to plateau, they get the into the fun of High School team, and continue.

This wouldn't explain the full 3-4 years, but girls tend to be more coordinated than boys of the same age. From my experience, girls tend to learn breaststroke and butterfly a year or two earlier than boys, giving them an earlier start into real competitive swimming.

Kurt Krumpholz Anyone remember his one hit?

Originally posted by dorothyrde Yes, if you look at age group time standards, the girls times are all faster then the boys times through age 12. Then 13 and up, the boys times get considerably faster. www.usaswimming.org/.../2008MotivationalTimes-Top16.pdf From what I see the boys standards are always faster, but very close through 11-12, then, as you said, the boys start to increase the gap. I had to check this out because my recollection was "getting beat by a girl" was just as embarrassing at 12 as it is now. And let me clairfy by saying that I've gotten beaten by plenty of girls throughout my swimming career! :)

In a way, it's unfair to call any of these swimmers one-hit wonders because all rose through the ranks, worked their way to the top, and had several great swims along the way. In terms of the Olympics, I think Nelson Diebel is my favorite one-hit wonder. Diebel had a pretty good run, but it didn't last long. He didn't do much after he won the gold in the 100 *** at the 1992 Olympics. Diebel also won a gold on the medley relay, but I think of his 100 *** Olympic gold as an Olympic one-hit wonder. He also had a couple good "b" sides, like his 53.84 in the 100 yard *** when he was still in high school. Diebel's teammate, Royce Sharp was another Olympic one-hit wonder. After he broke the American record in the 200 back (in 1992) he failed to final in Barcelona and never returned to the Olympics...and even though he was on some great teams at Michigan, he didn't have too much international success after his AR in 1992. Diebel and Sharp attended my Almer Mater, the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, where they were part of one of the most dominant high school swimming programs in history. BJ Bedford was also on that team, as was Jim Wells and Jane Skillman. And even though he didn't have his greatest success at the Olympics, you could probably add Roque Santos to that group. His participation in Masters demonstrates longevity that is not really characteristic of a one-hit wonder. But on the international scene, Roque's crowning moment was the upset win over Barrowman in the 200 *** at the '92 trials. One last favorite one-hit wonder was Sean Killion, the former American record holder in the 800 free (and 1992 Olympian in the 1500). He held the record for several years, but only went to the Olympics once, in one event, and didn't final. When I say he "only" went to one Olympics, that is of course a little tongue in cheek! Sean and I swam on the Willingboro Country Club team, and later at Jersey Wahoos. SB